


Blood Soaked Parchment

by Genuka



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bunny Farm Escapee, Evil Dumbledore, Gen, Harry Potter is a Horcrux, Manipulative Dumbledore, Other, Random Updates, Rating May Change, Soul Bond, Tag Suggestions Wanted, Tags May Change, This might develop an actual relationship but I'm not promising anything, Warnings May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-10 18:20:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7856089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genuka/pseuds/Genuka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when Harry asks Voldemort for help and Voldemort decides to make it a joint rescue between all sides of the war? 1 phrase.... Domino Effect!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Letter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TyanataDraven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TyanataDraven/gifts), [ShadowsWithoutHope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowsWithoutHope/gifts), [Blue4dogs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue4dogs/gifts), [PenguinGirl94](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PenguinGirl94/gifts), [Phoenix Black (phoenixdaisy)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixdaisy/gifts), [Tsukiyoko_Natsume27](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsukiyoko_Natsume27/gifts), [qob23](https://archiveofourown.org/users/qob23/gifts), [ThePhoenixandTheDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePhoenixandTheDragon/gifts), [j99450](https://archiveofourown.org/users/j99450/gifts), [veltaio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/veltaio/gifts), [elvirakitties](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elvirakitties/gifts), [crankypants](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crankypants/gifts), [Hisuiko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hisuiko/gifts), [hikari100](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hikari100/gifts).



>   
>  _Voldemort... can you come and get me?  
>  ~Harry_   
> 

  
The unexpected blood soaked letter actually scared the Dark Lord. Why in all the hell would _Potter_ of all people want him to come get him?!? He'd been trying to kill the brat for years and the amount of blood on the letter was terrifying for anyone.

"Lucius!" Voldemort bellowed as he hurried to one of the Malfoy Family's potion labs that was decently stocked.

"My lord?" Lucius asked worriedly as he hurried up next to the snake-human hybrid.

"Floo the Auror office and get a team consisting of people from Dumbledore's Order, our ranks, and some fair minded Aurors that don't belong to either side. Be aware that we're coming out in the open a bit early. Send an elf to kidnap Skeeter. Tell her we've got a story for her," Voldemort snapped. "I'll have a location in just under an hour unless one of the order members offers up the answer first. Call Severus and your wife, tell them to prepare for wounded. Severus will be coming with us for on site emergency healing."

"Yes my lord," Lucius said, peeling off in the direction of the closest floo while hiding his puzzlement. Voldemort began brewing a very dark tracking potion the moment he hit the potions lab. The potion would, combined with the blood, give a location and the letter its self counted as a blatant invitation thus negating the wards.


	2. Death and Rescue

Lucius had kindly assembled the selected group in the manor's entrance hall by the time that Voldemort was done with the potion. He didn't bother with a glamour when he stalked towards the group, potion and letter in hand before stopping to glare at them all.

"For those of you who don't know I am Lord Voldemort. That said something has come to my attention which involves, Light, Dark, and Ministry alike. For the time being we will work together under a mutual truce. In exchange and partly due to what we are about to cooperate on I will cease all active operations for the next month as a show of good faith. Now, less than an hour ago I received this letter from Harry Potter, soaked in his own blood, asking for me to retrieve him. I want to know what the hell is going on and why a brat who believes I would wish nothing better than to see him dead is asking for my help. This group is made up of people from all sides to ensure that the situation is handled legally and can not be swept under the rug by _anyone_. If, for some reason, Parseltongue is used during this expedition I will provide a translation of the relevant memory under oath of truthfulness. Should the members of Dumbledore's Order present be unwilling or unable to provide Potter's location I have brewed a dark tracking potion that will bypass anything hiding him using the blood that the letter was soaked in before it ever arrived. If you have the location now would be the time to provide it," Voldemort told them all sharply, displaying the letter and signature clearly for all to see. He felt no satisfaction as most of them went white at seeing the proof of his words.

"We can't. To my knowledge Dumbledore has us all under oath," Severus informed him softly, his quiet words carrying easily as they echoed around the silent hall.

Voldemort nodded sharply in acknowledgement before pulling a piece of lint out of his pocket. He transfigured it into a string long enough for everyone to grab before carefully tearing a blood soaked piece of the parchment off and dropping it into the potion. The potion smoked for a moment, going from silvery-grey to bright green in the clear glass vial. A quick dip of the string into the potion had it soaked into the string with the extra evaporating away in under a minute once the string was removed.

" _~Portus~_ ," Voldemort hissed sharply in parseltongue, giving the magic an extra kick with the use of the serpent language. "Grab the string, the tracking potion joined with the Portkey magic I just cast will land us nearby, dragging us slightly in the right direction once we've landed. Potter's plea also granted all of us legal and magical permission to enter whatever property he may be on or within. Anything that keeps us out can qualify as false imprisonment because its preventing us from reaching him and answering his obviously desperate call for help."

"When did you become a barrister?" Nymphadora Tonks muttered under her breath.

Voldemort ignored her, releasing his magical hold on the portkey spell the moment everyone had grabbed on. The string landed them all hard in the middle of the street of Privet Drive, practically on the doorstep to Number 4. They hardly needed the slight jerk of the string because a split second after they landed Harry's yell of pain rang out through the cracked open window of his room.

No one waited for the order. Voldemort was in the lead as the door was slammed open, Snape on his heels. A glance around the immaculate room showed them the stunned Petunia and Dudley.

"'Tuny!" Severus snarled at the sight of her.

Another yell had Voldemort and Snape ignoring her and her cowering fat son in favor of getting to Harry, leaving the two to be collected by other members of the joint group. The sight of the many locks on the door to Harry's room and the distinctive swish of leather whistling through the air told them where to go. The door slammed open, putting a hole in the wall, as they entered in time to get the full volume of the pained cry. A blasting curse sent Vernon into the closet with a yell of shock, the door breaking under his weight.

"Voldemort?" Harry asked woozily as he collapsed in slow motion only to shriek in pain as Snape caught him, accidentally pressing hard into various wounds and bruises.

Voldemort glanced around the wretched room of broken and tattered things barring those that were obviously magical like the screeching owl locked into her cage. The blood stains on the bed told him that this had not only happened before but that they likely wouldn't find any place clean to lay the brat down on. A quick Accio had clean towels in his hands while a rapid transfiguration of both bed and one of the towels gave Severus a clean place to work. A scouring charm had the cushioned bench sanitary before the brat ever touched it. A muttered curse from Snape as he wordlessly vanished Harry's tattered shirt and pants easily voiced the Dark Lord's own feeling on the matter. The array of bruises, belt marks, half healed or infected open sores was staggering.

"Sorry," Harry breathed carefully but still in obvious pain. Cracked or broken ribs got added to the mental list both men were compiling.

" **Freaks! Get the bloody hell out of my house and off my property!** " Vernon bellowed in absolute rage.

"Jesus!" a ministry Auror cursed, getting a good look at Harry as he bound and silenced Vernon for later.

"We can't move him. The black bruise and the way he's trying to protect it means he's bleeding internally, dangerously so," Severus informed the Dark Lord even as he shoved a blood replenisher down Potter's throat.

A crack outside told them someone had just apparated in, sloppily wasting power by the volume of the crack. Voldemort unlocked the owl's cage to get her to shut up and she flew over to land on the nightstand only to coo worriedly over her master. Snape gave the man a grateful look for the drop in volume as he continued to work on Potter.

"Tom!" Dumbledore called belligerently from outside.

"Can we get him stable enough to be moved outside? I can call for a healer but for the rest of us with basic mediwitchery to help work on him we need more room," the Auror asked quickly, not wanting to be in the middle of Dumbledore vs Voldemort.

"Blow out the wall and we'll levitate him down or transfigure the outside wall into a ramp that will let us take him out to the street. He can't take the stairs even if we carry him," Severus ordered. He made Harry drink another blood replenisher and hesitantly applying bruise salve at the edges of the dangerously black bruise that covered a good chunk of the brat's stomach area in the shape of a foot.

"Why do you even care? I've healed before," Harry asked, still on the edge of passing out.

"Wait until I've patched you back together," Severus snapped at him, fighting back tears at the damage he was seeing on his student. The newest wounds were healed quickly but the infection in several of the older lashes worried him with the hot skin of the brat indicating a temperature only adding to the worry.

It took less than five minutes to get Harry out where everyone with training could work on him, one look at Harry's condition had Dumbledore standing aside and keeping his mouth shut. The Dursleys were kept off to one side, bound and guarded while everyone waited with baited breath to see if he would survive.

"Damn it all to hell! I will not suffer you _freaks_ messing up our perfectly ordinary lives! I swear I will see every last one of you dead or die trying! I curse you with every last breath and everything I have. The blood of you abominations stains the soil, air, and water of this earth and I will see it removed root and bloody well branch!" Vernon spat, his saliva mixed with a bit of blood from a cut lip received in his impromptu flight.

"What have you done?!" Dumbledore cried in horror as the bloody gob landed on the cracked cement right where the edge of the wards was. The blood and the oath mixed with the shaky blood wards, drawing magic that was in turn connected to the nearby leyline. Two Dementors appeared out of nowhere, circling the group but withholding their terrible power to force their victims to relive their most terrible memories. The cold had Harry crying out in shock and waking up fully just in time to see Death, bony skeleton in a cloak and all, fade into existence in front of him.

"Hello," Harry greeted cautiously while everyone else was still in shock.

"Hello," Death greeted in return. "This is unexpected... all three owners of my Hallows present in one place at the invocation of something requiring my personal attention. What strange lives you mortals lead."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Harry said honestly. He was stuck in place, flat on the ground, where four separate people had been working to stabilize him. He knew he was slowly dying and wasn't all that concerned about it.

"You hold my cloak, or rather part of my cloak, your false Light Lord holds my wand, your Dark Lord holds my resurrection stone," Death informed Harry. Each item appearing in front of the respective wizard as needed and glowing while it floated in front of them until they took it..

"Cool. That explains why its so good," Harry said happily, weakly cuddling his father's cloak. "Do I get to see my parents now?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Severus snarled, quickly pouring another general healing potion down the brat's throat.

"You have a choice," Death told them. "This muggle has invoked an ancient compact which, if handled wrong, will necessitate that I claim every living soul on earth and end your peoples. As the assembled wielders of my Hallows you each get a vote on several aspects of this issue. As Harry James Potter is nearly to the point of collection his disposition is the first item on the agenda. Should he live or should he die? I retain my vote for after the three of you have cast your advisory votes."

"I am sorry my boy... death," Dumbledore cast his vote before either Harry or Voldemort could.

"What!?" Most everyone exclaimed.

"What are you hiding old man?" Voldemort asked suspiciously. "Why do you want your Golden Boy dead?"

"I don't but it is for the greater good," Dumbledore said mournfully, mentally plotting to steal the cloak as soon as the discussion was over along with the stone.

Harry felt the last of his energy drain out of him. If _Dumbledore_ wanted him dead just as much as his relatives... was there any reason to fight to live? Something inside him said yes and screw whoever wanted him to lay down and die.

"I'd like to live please," Harry said in a quiet respectful voice while sending a vicious glare at the man he'd thought of as a grandfather.

"Harry you don't understand, you have to die, its just a little bit earlier than I had hoped," Dumbledore explained sorrowfully.

"If the old goat wants him dead I suddenly find myself wanting him very much alive," Voldemort said decidedly.

"Very well, he will live. The second item on the agenda are the soul shards of Tom Marvolo Riddle. Destruction, left as is, or healing?" Death told them.

"Destruction," Dumbledore said promptly, leveling a disappointed glare at Harry.

"Left alone," Voldemort countered with a vicious scowl.

"What are the consequences of each action and can the other two recast their votes after we have that information?" Harry asked cautiously.

"So long as one of you have not cast your vote the other two can change their own vote. As to the consequences... Destruction damns the souls of those involved because only the Creator has the right to order the complete destruction of a soul. Leaving the shards as is will continue to damage the soul in question and put the lives of your people at risk. Healing... healing would require a bond to another person of my choosing to balance and assist the injured soul for the next 50 or more years," Death explained with an evil chuckle.

"If I say healing you're going to pick me aren't you?" Harry asked dolefully. When Death didn't move to counter his conclusion the Gryffindor sighed in resignation before closing his eyes and honestly thinking about the situation. Something was fishy about all of this and it felt like they were on the edge of a precipice, that they would be fighting for survival and the division of light and dark would disappear very shortly.

"Healing... we're going to need him sane and in charge of his people when whatever is coming arrives," Harry declared firmly, shocking both Light and Dark Lords. Death just laughed. A sweep of his bony arm and Voldemort was falling to his knees with a choking gasp, his features rapidly shifting from snake hybrid to twentyish Tom Riddle.

"What have you done?!" Dumbledore demanded, completely aghast. Voldemort was nearly out of it but he still lunged forwards and stopped the movement of Dumbledore's arm with a growl.

"Leave him alone!" the newly healed Riddle snapped.

Death easily sped up the reorganization of the man's mind and the stitching of the soul so that he was both sane and his mind was as organized as being freshly sorted by meditation combined with Occlumency. The bond the was already between them due to the Horcrux abruptly strengthened, twisting into a braided rope as the soul shard shot down it to slip into place amongst its fellows. Harry could feel the connection to the ruby eyed man still on his knees but he could also feel a connection drifting from him to Snape off to one side and the link that the Dark Mark made to every Death Eater to Voldemort.

"How the hell did you control so many links?" Harry asked, making a face at how many magical bonds connected them all.

"Not easily," Riddle drawled, gracefully rising back to his feet, his grip on Dumbledore's wand arm never fading. With a last glare he shoved the man's arm back into the garishly covered chest and stood glaring at the transfiguration master with extreme dislike.

"Choice three, administer the ancient punishment to those who have falsely invoked the pact, administer the ancient punishment for harming a guardian of the people, or let the muggles walk," Death told them with a cackle.

"Question... what's with the Dementors?" Harry asked quickly. "And why aren't I fighting not to either pass out or listen to my mother's death?"

"I need you coherent not as a snack for my pets, they were a gift from a necromancer," Death said flatly. "The two of them had already been sent after you by some ministry fool so I saw no reason to send my pets away. Now cast your vote."

"Walk free. They obviously have no understanding of whatever they may have done and thus are completely innocent of wrongdoing," Dumbledore said quickly, hoping to influence Harry to vote the same.

"What are those ancient punishments?" Riddle asked judiciously.

"Both involve a selection of public punishment, some of which is up to the three of you, and upon actual death the conversion into either a Vampire, Ancient form of Infirus, or one of my Dementors. All of these are bound to act as guardians as part of their punishment," Death said evilly. "Being drawn and quartered after being forced to wade through a river of sewage for a day was the favored public choice the last time this came up."

"Punishment for false invocation of the pact," Harry said with a grimace.

Riddle mentally went over the options again and came up with a conclusion that both pleased and worried him. The three of them as holders of the Deathly Hallows must count as guardians and thus harm to a guardian covered whatever they had been doing to Potter. On the other hand the invocation of the pact was obviously dangerous, false or not.

"Its a trick question. The fat slob of a man obviously falsely invoked the pact but equally obviously all three of the family have harmed a guardian, if I've got part of the definition right. If it just involves the man then both ancient punishments, if it is the family as a whole and I can only vote for one of them then the punishment for harming a guardian," Riddle finally cast his own vote.

"This is clearly a misunderstanding," Dumbledore said gently, trying to get them to change their minds when it was already too late.

"And that is the last straw. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore you have lost the right to hold any of my Hallows or gifts. Be glad that you do not stand with the Dursley family on grounds of doing harm to a fellow guardian for your piss poor choices as the nominal guardian of Harry James Potter. I strip you of your false guardianship and retrieve my wand. Should Harry James Potter wish for a proper guardian I will arrange for one. Alternately should he wish to take up his emancipation that was declared upon his acceptance as champion of the Triwizard Tournament that is his right," Death declared with a growl, absently summoning the unbeatable wand and slipping it into the depths of his robes.

"You can't do that!" Shacklebolt protested.

"You really want to argue with _death_ of all things?" Severus drawled, shoving another healing potion down the brat's throat.

"I'm... emancipated? I didn't have to come back?!" Harry asked, completely stunned by the revelation. "I tried looking at the rules of the tournament but I couldn't find a copy and no one I asked would give me one."

"I'm going to win an award for this!" Skeeter squealed in excitement, finally unable to keep her silence and reminding everyone she was there.

"If you make me out to be a wounded hero or a baby dark lord again I'm going to curse you!" Harry warned her with a glare. "I'll also tell these lovely people that little secret you don't want known."

"I will print the situation accurately, there's enough flare that it doesn't need me to spice it up for my readers," Skeeter countered honestly, completely ignoring the threat about her animagus form. At this point she didn't honestly care if she was outed or cursed, it had nothing on the story she got in the last two hours and would be a small price to pay.

"Now see here," Dumbledore began only to be cut off.

"Shut up old man. You've lost, now accept it gracefully," Riddle spat hatefully.

Death chuckled, reminding them all that he was there. "I like you but that doesn't mean I won't punish you if Potter comes to harm under your care, or rather with you under _his_ care. The bond also entitles him to all of your people just as their oaths entitle you to them. I advise you to ensure he can defend himself and understands his duties in your world. Creator knows that Dumbledore never taught him anything he was supposed to. Call me once you've figured out the _unique_ aspects of the situation."

With that Death simply disappeared without a trace. The two Dementors immediately stopped circling the odd group to swoop in and pat both Harry and Riddle on the head like children or pets before wandering off in the direction of Azkaban.

"That was... strange," Harry finally got out.

"You do realize I can't let you leave with the old man?" Riddle said quietly.

"You can't have him," one of the Ministry Aurors bristled.

"I think that what just happened proves I can," Riddle retorted. "The ministry and the so called light screwed up. By rights Potter is now a ward of the Dark, especially with our bond in place."

Dumbledore's sudden frantic grab aimed at Harry was stopped by some sort of black energy that tossed him a good ways down the street.

Severus' only thought on the situation was _thank god!_

"Priceless! Dumbledore attempts to kidnap savior when Death changes guardianship to the Dark Lord due to mishandling and abuse! The Golden Quill award is _mine_!" Skeeter practically cackled in glee as she scribbled away with her never out quill.

Harry mentally poked at the bond and Riddle shot around in response to look at him in concern. Seeing nothing wrong aside from the healing injuries he scowled at the Gryffindor brat before turning back to the impending idiots that clearly wanted them separated.

"Look, we already had a bond whether or not we knew about it and Death strengthened it. I'm honestly not sure how far we can actually get from one another now. I know _nothing_ about the bond except that breaking it is a very bad idea and that it will last for at least 50 years according to Death. We're not submitting to any Unspeakables or Aurors examining us. As the Elder in the bond with Potter being physically under age and without even his O.W.L.s I have the authority to tell you lot you can't have him! I'll not risk him being hurt like this again or killed the way it appears that Dumbledore was actively working for. It makes me wonder how often the old goat has been trying to kill Potter without getting the blame," Riddle told them with a scowl. "Its also clear that I was an insane idiot and I'm glad that my mind is no longer in tatters. Looking at my memories I haven't been properly sane since at _least_ my early twenties, possibly since that ritual I did at 16."

"I knew it!" Harry said pointing at him in an aha! moment.

"And how could you know how long I've been clinically insane?" Riddle drawled, smirking at the thought Harry wouldn't have an answer.

"Your diary, I met and killed it in my second year. Honestly, sending a 1000 year old basilisk after a _12_ year old? All the bastard had to do was keep holding my own wand on me until he finished becoming solid before cursing me," Harry grumbled with a cute pout. Riddle blinked then swore viciously as he mentally accessed the memories from his diary self.

"You are a trouble magnet," Riddle told him flatly. Harry didn't care, having finally run out of energy as his body fought to heal he slipped into the land of dreams.


	3. Court Shock

Harry woke slowly to the sound of a quiet argument. The voices were familiar and even though he knew in the past they would have belonged to someone hostile to him this time he didn't think they did. The sense of warmth, unexpected safety, and comfort was alien to him but it didn't stop him from relishing in it. The voices stopped abruptly though Harry had given no sign he was awake.

"Brat the bond gives me a few advantages when it comes to you, it also stops me from hurting you. You don't need to pretend to sleep," Riddle said softly, reaching over and stroking Harry's hair. Harry opened his eyes to find the familiar walls and white of the Hogwarts infirmary.

"What happened?" Harry asked with a jaw cracking yawn.

"It was argued that you needed to finish your education at Hogwarts to keep anyone from kidnapping and brainwashing you into being a Death Eater," Severus said dryly. "The argument became circular until someone reminded them _again_ that you and the Dark Lord are now bound by Death's command. The Dark Lord also pointed out that we could live at the school. He then suddenly remembered, very loudly, that Dumbledore had denied him that option as a student who was regularly threatened with death during his summers. Skeeter was gleeful over the fact and there are now questions about his competence or at least questions about his suitability. The end result was the relocation to Hogwarts and the school recognizing the both of you as the heirs of two of the founders. Your school robes changed to reflect that fact by adding a new patch. The ridiculous letter that we received shortly after the Dementors returned to Azkaban declared your trial for Underage Magic to be tomorrow. You've been in a healing coma for 9 days. Everyone who was present at your rescue, barring your foul relatives, is required to be present for the trial. You will have to be carried but it will make a very damning statement for whatever idiot tried to get you KISSed."

"Story of my life," Harry grumbled, giving another jaw cracking yawn.

"Sleep, I have called off my people for the next while so that we may sort out this situation with fewer complications. You need not fear, we will guard you as you rest," Riddle counciled, lightly running his hands over Harry's face to make him shut his eyes. Strangely Harry wasn't bothered by their presence and was insanely grateful for the protection as he once more succumbed to the dreams and nightmares which never let him rest. He never realized that he had yet to release his grip on Death's invisibility cloak since his unexpected rescue.

Harry was gently brought back to the land of the living early the next morning. Madam Pomfrey fussed and complained about the nerve of him being called to the ministry in his current state. Snape sat back and smirked at the smothering effect but eventually they were all sorted, ready to take the floo to the ministry two hours before the hearing. Riddle and Snape had a mixed reaction of disgust and dismay to find that he had nearly nothing that was more than rags and thus suitable for the upcoming trial. As a result Harry was forced into wearing his dress robes from the yule ball during the Triwizard Tournament. True to Riddle's prediction Harry had to be carried to the ministry, much to his mortification. Riddle was both amused at his reaction and concerned by how _light_ the brat in his arms was. All feelings but confusion disappeared the moment they entered the unexpected chaos of the Atrium to meet up with the rest of the rescue group.

"What the hell?" Harry muttered, immediately recognizing that this wasn't the relatively normal chaos of the magical world he was seeing but near complete _panic_ over something instead. Riddle grumbled and let off a loud noise that gained immediate attention.

"If you are done running about like headless chickens we are due in courtroom 10," Riddle said scathingly, gesturing at their unusual group from the day of Harry's rescue. A path immediately opened, allowing the group through as everyone resumed what they had been doing at a much calmer pace. The trip to courtroom 10 was mostly uneventful aside from the obvious worry of Dumbledore and his people.

"What has got them all in a tizzy?" Lucius muttered thoughtfully.

"Death didn't bother with concealment charms and no one thought to tell the Obliviators before the next morning. On top of that some kid snagged the entire thing with his vid..ee..oh camera," Dawlish informed the blond man. "They sent the record of the entire thing to some place called U-toob?"

"Oh god!" Harry snicked. "Someone got a vid and posted it on YouTube? The Dursleys are ruined! There is no way they can hide what they've been doing.... of course it also means there's no way to hide magic anymore... guess the Professor will learn first hand why I didn't want to go back."

Harry's words made the entire group feel suddenly sick as the implications of what he'd said tried to sink in just as they arrived at the courtroom.

"Stop! Oi, what are you lot doing? This is just a hearing for some idiot kid," the Auror on court duty tried to stop them from entering the courtroom.

"Hi! They were there," Harry said cheerfully. "I was unconscious so one of them took the letter for my trial."

"Harry my boy..." Dumbledore started only to be glared into silence by the rest of the group.

"We were under the impression that the trial wasn't until 9, its barely 7:45," Riddle pointed out, completely unimpressed. He'd thought that whatever idiot was in charge would try something like this. It was one of the reasons he'd woken Harry at six and they'd made sure he was both washed and dressed in good robes.

"Ah... I can only let in the kid that screwed up," the Auror said apologetically.

"I am bonded to the brat and he's still recovering from nearly being beaten to death by those filthy muggles. He can't walk," Riddle informed him scathingly.

"Mr. Langley unless you want to find out exactly how accurate those rumors at school are you will grant us entry... _now_ ," Severus drawled haughtily. Auror Langley took one look at his former professor's glare before scrambling to let them in.

"Nicely done," Riddle congratulated Severus appreciatively.

"I spend most of my time either terrorizing the students or ensuring they don't blow anything up," Snape snarked back smugly as they all took their seats in the witness section. Riddle kept Harry in his arms as they waited for everyone to be assembled. The last people to arrive were a woman covered in pink aside from the special Wizengamot robe and Minister Fudge. They were trailed by a man that was clearly a muggle and a pair of Aurors who were obviously his protection detail.

"You have no idea what kind of damage that video is already doing to your precious statute! It went viral within the first 48 hours and people went looking for whatever article that Skeeter woman wrote," the man complained.

"The Obliviators got everyone I don't see how anything you're saying makes sense or is anything more than some jumped up idiot trying to get a pay raise with ridiculous and impossible rumors. There was no one to spread these so called rumors and I've no idea what a _vid_ or _U-toob_ is," Cornelius shot back. "Now I have a trial I have to run."

"You might want to stay sir. I think what you're trying to tell him is part of why I'm here," Harry said cheerily, drawing attention much to the shock of everyone who hadn't already been aware of his condition.

"Child... who did this to you?" the muggle asked, choking back tears at seeing Harry's poor condition.

"Its nothing," Harry said, suddenly shy.

"It is very well something," the muggle said in fierce determination and protectiveness.

"Why don't you remain? The issue will be brought up as part of the proceedings should the Minister actually stick with protocol and not try to force sentencing," Riddle invited, immediately recognizing the advantages of him staying.

"I believe I will," the man said decidedly. He was quickly directed to the audience seats by his Auror bodyguards. The entire start of the trial was rushed by Fudge, much to everyone's even the muggle's disapproval.

"All in favor of..." Fudge began only to be cut off by Riddle's snarl.

"This is what you are reduced to? Bullying a _child_ and threatening them with death? You're as bad as Dumbledore who routinely sends abused children back to their abusers," Riddle snarled at the man. "We were all there at the so called casting of the Patronus and you haven't even bothered to ask us why we are here? No patronus was cast despite the two _Dementors_ oddly present and acting strangely. Every spell was cast by an adult and most of them were _healing_ spells. Are you going to ban _more_ healing spells? Call them Dark Arts again? The only remotely Dark Art that was cast that day was done by a _muggle_ who had very nearly beaten Potter to death shortly before invoking the magic. Potter can't even _walk_ yet after his abuse."

"Now Tom that's hardly the way to talk to the minister," Dumbledore said soothingly.

"He wants to not only snap Potter's wand but also send him back to that hellhole. The same hellhole we just pulled him out of. Without his magic I wouldn't give him a month to live under their tender care," Riddle shot back, clutching Harry close. "Just because you blatantly want both of us dead doesn't mean I'm going to let you kill either of us."

"You may be _Voldemort_ but you can not intimidate me into..." Dumbledore began heatedly only to be cut off by Riddle's harsh laugh.

"All I ever wanted was a safe place that I wouldn't get beaten and starved or demonized. You did your best to convince the rest of the school staff that I was evil since I was _11_! When I fulfilled Dippet's requirements to take the Defense post you turned me away saying that you couldn't _allow_ someone so Dark near the children. You knew I had living family and instead you forced me to return to that damn orphanage in the middle of the _blitz_ instead of telling me about my heritage and helping me! All because I can do something you can't and was a threat to your power," Riddle practically yelled at him hatefully, his temper snapping, even as he cuddled Harry close in a protective embrace. "You think I wanted to be a Dark Lord?! All I did was start providing the protection _you_ have been denying your students, _children_ , and lobbied for better laws to keep it from happening again! _Death_ deemed you unfit and stripped you of Harry's false guardianship as well as his wand for your actions or do you not remember being thrown down the street for trying to grab him? The raids were the result of side effects of rituals I needed to perform because of _you_. Congratulations, the deaths of thousands of both muggles and magicals are on your hands you racist bigoted bastard! I will not let you turn Harry into a personal weapon for your twisted amusement and simply so that you can force him to assassinate me. Be glad that Death pasted me back together and linked me to Potter or I'd be taking it out on everyone who opposed me like I had planned when I was still insane."

Harry didn't think. He just reached up and pulled the man's head down to look him in the eye. Green met red and a moment later the anger drained from the red changing it from nearly mauve back to a tired brick red.

"I'm sorry Harry. He's done this before. I wouldn't be surprised if he has you dosed on potions and spells to keep you loyal or at least more Gryffindor than the Slytherin that has probably kept you alive for years," Riddle apologized.

"At least you're no longer trying to kill me," Harry said with a shrug. "Sometimes magic is weird and I'm still not sure why Death made our bond stronger and pretty much said we had to live together. Looks like you needed me to help you with your temper more than I needed you to carry me to my trail that I didn't do anything to get."

"Hem, hem, hem, this is ridiculous. You can not _talk_ with death and You-Know-Who is not back! I am shocked that the Headmaster would pay someone to play the man simply to get the ministry to bow to his wishes. All of you are _lying_ and perhaps need a visit to Azkaban and a talk with the Dementors," Delores Umbridge declared imperiously.

"Its not like we can call Death up and ask him what his motivations are," Harry said sarcastically. There was a boiling in the shadows behind him as the very distinct voice of Death echoed out in a polite, "You called?"

Everyone but the original rescue group was shocked at the sudden appearance of Death. The immortal being had even gone out of his way to make himself visible to the increasingly angry and obviously important muggle.

"Figured it out yet?" Death asked pleasantly.

"Nope, sorry," Harry said sheepishly. "They're being idiots and I've been asleep."

"Yes, that's to be expected. You were nearly dead when they got there, its a wonder you were even standing when Riddle stormed into the room. Of course with the way Dumbledore messed with the wards around that house, the way you were the only one fueling said wards, and the way he always covered up your mistreatment when someone tried to do something about it... well, you were really rather lucky. Of course being the rightful owner of at least one of my Hallows and having the blood of the youngest Peverell in your veins matched with the blood of that stubborn Godric Gryffindor probably helped. What did not help was the binding that's still on your core. You need to get that fixed," Death said mildly. "I gave you Riddle and his people, you can't take care of them properly or make sure they behave if your magic continues being strangled and you continue being abused. Unless you want me to assign a guardian rather than for you to take up your emancipation as your right as a Triwizard champion? That cup has always been a bit more trouble than its worth."

"Does it have something to do with the fact that we hold your Hallows?" Riddle asked cautiously. "And the fact that you took your wand back from Dumbledore?"

"Very good," Death said approvingly. "You're on the right track and don't let those foolish Unspeakables touch them or I will be very upset. Now unless Harry wants me assigning a guardian for him or you figure out my first hint I really need to get back to work."

Before anyone could say anything more the being known as Death was gone.

"Now will you people listen to what happened?" Nymphadora Tonks demanded into the sudden silence in complete exasperation. She quickly summarized what had happened to the best of her knowledge, pointing out the obvious on going abuse and giving the minimal explanation that Harry had provided on the way down from the atrium.

Unbeknownst to everyone else Umbridge had summoned another pair of dementors to the courtroom with orders to kiss Harry Potter while everyone was distracted with Riddle's tirade. At that moment the Dementors swooped in only to stop dead at realizing who their target was. They also abruptly cut off their emanation of cold as they stopped automatically feeding on everyone present. The only way that anyone could describe it later was that the Dementors _cooed_ over both Harry and Riddle before patting them on the head and heading back the way they had come.

"Do you think they'll keep doing that from now on?" Harry asked curiously.

"Judging from what just happened, probably," Riddle said grumpily. He was glad not to be Dementor food but it was slightly embarrassing to be treated like a cute child even if the one patting his head was a creature out of nightmare that generally feasted on souls and memories.

"Right, I've heard enough. Fudge you are under arrest for ignoring the Statute of Secrecy, embezzlement, abuse of power, and taking bribes. Whoever the hell summoned those Dementors is under arrest for attempted murder. Charges for child abuse, child neglect, and child endangerment will be filed against Dumbledore and would be filed against Potter's relatives if it were possible. Child endangerment charges are to be filed against Minerva McGonagall and Poppy Pomfrey in addition to breach of medical ethics for Pomfrey. Unless Pomfrey was to be found under undue influence she is equally as culpable as Dumbledore for the risk to the children. Additional charges will be filed or dropped pending examination of Medi-Witch Pomfrey," Madam Amelia Bones declared, easily ignoring the spluttering and protests of those she was ordering arrested. "As to the reason for this trial no one can control or ignore Death so any charges for intentionally breaching the Statute are waived for the rescue party. However, a fine of 150 galleons each, barring Mr. Potter, is issued due to lack of prompt report on the issue. Albus Dumbledore is henceforth forbidden to hold the guardianship of any child regardless of the outcome of the trial due to his shear stupidity which has caused this crisis in the first place. I would _love_ to charge Potter's relatives but as muggles I can not bring charges against them. The charges of inappropriate underage magic use are summarily dismissed."

"But _I_ can. As per usual this case will be referred to one of our Squib judges and the evidence presented in this and any other related case will be accepted as valid. This sort of thing makes me wish we could apply capital punishment but the best those bastards are going to get is lifetime imprisonment," the muggle said almost regretfully. It was clear to one and all that he really hated letting child abusers off.

"And who might you be? I need it for the record so that I can officially forward the muggle aspect of the case to you and the squib circuit of judges," Madam Bones asked politely.

"I'm the current Prime Minister as I've just witnessed the order for Fudge's arrest I will need to talk to the interim Minister as soon as possible. Mr. Potter wasn't wrong about the vid on YouTube causing untold damage. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if we can't stop the information from spreading nor if we can't keep the Statute intact. I'll send you copies of the contingency plans that Fudge always refused to look at, conceited bastard," the Prime Minister said shortly. "I'll need someone with a presence in the normal world to officially take custody of him since he's still considered a child until 18. I don't know how he became an adult in your world but he's certainly not one among non-magicals."

"Because Fudge and Dumbledore forced me to participate in a tournament for people _of-age_ that often involves the death of the chosen champions. The death count was so high they stopped doing the tournament back in the 1700s according to Hermione," Harry answered dryly. "Sometimes I think the Wizarding World is just mental. They don't see the risks they're taking because our magic generally makes us harder to seriously hurt. I learned that the hard way. They also don't tend to think because they're used to magic solving everything or nearly everything at the drop of the hat. No reason for logic or critical thinking when magic isn't logical in the first place."

"Lovely," the Prime Minister said sourly. "It seems I need to make an appointment with you young man to further discuss this. Until the furor over that little YouTube vid dies down, _if_ it dies down, though I'm going to be busy. I may need you or one of your group to issue a press statement. The best way to get out of admitting to magic is to call it a film clip for an upcoming movie that's being kept secret. Its a line we've used before for some of the more outrageous incidents that couldn't be passed off as something more... mundane. You'd still need a new guardian."

"I actually don't want to go back. I'd rather live in the wizarding world even if I have to hide all the time to get everyone to leave me alone," Harry admitted with a grimace. "Besides I'm bonded to this guy and we're still not sure what all that means since Death used an already existing bond that we didn't know was there and then went and made it stronger when he healed Tom."

"Brat," Riddle muttered in irritation. With his healing his absolute rage over his given name had dropped to mild irritation even as the bond encouraged him to be highly protective of the Gryffindor in his arms. Hopefully, Harry would be strong enough to walk again with a few more days of treatment.

The Wizengamot sat there in absolute shock as the Aurors quickly arrested the named people who were present. They only started to protest as the doors to the room shut behind them.

"Now that we have the idiot riffraff out of the room... tell me about this U-toob," Madam Bones instructed grimly. So Harry did. He explained how it was like watching a memory and that YouTube was able to show it to millions of people within a couple of minutes. He even went so far as to explain what the term going viral meant. By the time he was done the pallor of the remaining Wizengamot resembled chalk.

"Do you all know what muggle weapons are capable of or have you all deluded yourselves into thinking that we're better because we have magic?" Riddle asked rhetorically before using magic and the special testimony pensive to play several of his memories of the second world war.

"That's old stuff, old tech. True our war capabilities haven't been used on that scale in a while but the technology now exists to _vanish_ entire cities," the Prime Minister pointed out, referencing the atomic and hydrogen bombs that took out Hiroshima.

"This is one of the reasons why we need tighter control and further separation," Riddle informed them stubbornly.

"It won't last much longer either way. Technology is moving too fast and your spells aren't working as well as they probably should be in your minds. We've had to devote a hell of a lot to clean up. Satellite photos are routinely marked as classified because they show the magical districts and many purely magical areas. If some power hungry idiot got it into their heads that you all needed to die it really wouldn't take much for our military to wipe out most of you without warning. It would be safer in the long run if we went for integration but there are too many religious fanatics and too much recent upheaval to make that an option right now. Unfortunately, the rescue of young Mr. Potter may make that an impossible option to _ignore_. We've used the false film idea numerous times and not just to cover up magical slip ups so it might cover this incident but it doesn't always work. Even if we want to with _Death_ himself literally involved we may not be able to stop it getting out," the Prime Minister pointed out with a tired sigh.

"Spin control... I really hate spin control and now its our only option to keep this from blowing up in our faces, provided we're allowed to even try," Riddle muttered, still carrying the weakened Harry.

"You think _I_ like the press? Hell no," Harry shot back. "I'll do it if I have to but I can't promise it will work. The movie thing might still work especially if you've got one of us backing it up. We could risk ignoring it but that might be a problem all its own."

"And why, prey tell, have you refused to use that noggin of yours in class if you are this savvy at seeing loop holes? For that matter how did you get the hat to put you in Gryffindor? All I'm hearing is pure Slytherin," Severus drawled.

"Fought with the hat after meeting Draco," Harry informed them all smugly, proving that he truly was a snake hidden in the lion's den.

"That's my little snake," Riddle said fondly, finally understanding why he had so much trouble figuring out the boy in his arms.

"Since the Headmaster forced Potter and... Riddle to stay at Hogwarts and we probably need a new Headmaster..." Dawlish suggested slyly.

"I _was_ Voldemort," Riddle pointed out caustically, playing up the fact that he wasn't the same man any more. One of the other Auror Death Eaters picked up on it immediately and kept the line of thought going.

"You _were_ but now Death healed you and you're not insane any more. You haven't tried to kill anyone, not even Dumbledore, you aren't throwing around Crucios, and you aren't getting irrationally angry. Potter can even override any orders you give to the Death Eaters," the lower ranked Auror Death Eater said cheerfully. He had hated getting crucioed just as much as anyone else and was quite happy to suddenly have a more peaceful way to get their goals accomplished.

"Its not like you can separate him from Potter any way," Lucius drawled. "At least this way we can put his considerable talents to use and he will actually have a chance to prove he's no longer a threat. Its hardly his fault if someone tricked him into performing a dangerous ritual with severe side effects."

"Is that what happened... yes, Slughorn would never have directed me to that tome for my research project unless told to," Riddle said musingly, almost innocently. Harry knew it was the literal truth but didn't know if there weren't other factors about the situation making it less innocent.

"What does that actually mean? In terms I can understand?" the Prime Minister asked irritably.

"Radiation damage that made him insane? Except that its magic? No that doesn't translate right... um... Lead poisoning might be a better analogy," Harry said thoughtfully. "But he's no longer got the poisoning because Death cleaned it and the damage out by reversing the rituals. Its nowhere near an exact parallel but its the best I can come up with right now," Harry said with a yawn, unintentionally emphasizing his still weakened state.

"Sleep brat," Severus ordered with an eye-roll. "We'll tell you what happened when you wake."

Harry reluctantly obeyed, falling asleep in Riddle's arms while they continued to argue around him.


	4. Vintage Alarm Clock

The soft conversation woke Harry even as he recognized the voices of Snape, Riddle, Lucius, and an unknown woman. Lazily he stayed mostly still with his eyes shut, not wanting to wake up yet.

"I'm sorry my lord, I know you didn't plan to break it but it isn't possible to break the bond. It won't last for only 50 years but the rest of your lives. Right now the bond would be vulnerable to being broken if not for Death being the one to have bound you. In five years it will be impossible to break by anyone but the caster, in six nothing we know of will ever break it," the lady said softly. "Attempting to break it now even with full permission from Death would be damaging to both of you, possibly catastrophically so. I know this isn't a soul bond but its so close I can't tell the difference."

"Then its a very good thing I don't want it broken. Thank you for looking at it Narcissa and thank you for accepting the Medi-witch post at Hogwarts. To think that Pomfrey would compromise herself that far even when forced by the potions and spells that old man had on her... At least she won't be risking the lives of our children any more. I know I'm not being fair but the post is one for a full Healer or at least a Medi-Witch with a full healer on retainer. Then there's poor Mini, that woman had an insane amount of Obliviates on her on top of the loyalty potions and the modified love potions. At least she wasn't taken advantage of in a more personal way nor was she actually at fault for most of what she could be charged with," Riddle sighed heavily. "This isn't quite the solution we've fought for but its a start and we can even get proper help for our people now. Everyone of ours who was in Azkaban has been sent to St. Mungoes for healing and the situations will be re-evaluated after they're as healed in mind and body as magically possible. I think its something of a twisted apology for missing the abuse Harry has suffered since we're now technically his property. Thankfully, no one has tried taking our wands citing Harry's lack of O.W.L.s as legal right to strip us of them."

"I think our only saving grace under that line of thought is that the Tournament declared him an adult. He can't be cited for use of underage magic so they can't try to apply that to the rest of us who have our O.W.L.s either. Did you notice that the marks have changed?" Lucius said softly.

"Yes, and I'm very grateful that the rest of you no longer have to have that horrible design I came up with as a teen. Potter's snake, wand, ring, and cloak design is much more elegant. The magical Arizona Black Rattlesnake (Crotalus Oreganus Cerberus) is so peaceful lying on the cloak next to the ring and wand even with the side draped over something on the right creating a lovely waterfall effect in the fabric. I'm a little disappointed I didn't get one too but our link isn't that of a simple loyalty oath either," Riddle admitted, absently running his hand through Harry's sable locks. "The muggle variant of that snake is actually known to raise its young and have complex social interactions. I suspect that it says something about how he will treat any children."

"Protect them to the death you mean," Lucius said wryly. Riddle just hummed happily in response.

"That snake is also one known to have the same color changing ability as the chameleon, no wonder I never caught on to him being one of my snakes hidden elsewhere," Severus said wryly. "Its also known as the Cerberus Rattlesnake, the Black Diamond Rattlesnake, as well as simply Black Rattlesnake. One of the American Potions Masters swears by them, muggle and magical versions alike, as near perfect familiars. Their shed skin is useful in several potions but only the shed skin, nothing else aside from the venom is useful for brewing."

"The film excuse seems to be working as well but now we've got muggles asking about when it will be available to see. Or at least we did until someone told them that the film was canceled because of safety issues or something," Riddle told them with an audible smirk.

"That solves that problem then," Lucius said with obvious relief.

"It only delays it," Severus corrected. "They were right with how fast technology is advancing and the lack of attention our people pay the muggles we're screwed if we don't start fixing how we view them and fast."

"That won't be easy even if we use this situation blatantly as capitol to start the process. If we took full advantage of the situation it might also harm Potter. He would have to take up his Lordship duties immediately, give speeches, give interviews, and help explain things to idiots in all walks of life and ranks of power. We would have to completely take over Dumbledore's attempts to misuse his positions both in regards to yon brat and the rest of the wizarding world. We would basically have to take over immediately," Lucius pointed out broodingly.

"Harry? Any thoughts?" Riddle asked. Harry sighed with regret at having to admit he was awake and opened his eyes.

"Following up on the movie thing might not be a bad idea. If we actually _make_ a movie we could help them realize we're just like them except we have magic. Some of it would have to obviously show that we do have laws and we police our own but before we go public it might be smart to develop charms and enchanted things that everyone can use even if they're muggles. We would have something they want and they would pay for it. It gets awfully hard to buy or steal something when the people who make it are dead. I bet there are even plenty of things that Squibs could use or do that muggles can't, like a lot of potions or using runes and rituals. It would stop them from forcing the Squibs to leave and be angry over not being able to stay. I bet we could even stop people from being squibs with a little care in making sure everyone doesn't marry their cousin," Harry said softly, laying on his bed and enjoying the feel of Riddle's hand in his hair. "Even I know that marrying your cousin or brother isn't good and starts hurting the babies before they're even born. Sometimes its fine but the blood turns bad really fast without new blood to refresh it like water turns stale."

"Well then we may just have to try that," Riddle said thoughtfully. "Are you feeling well enough to start moving around a bit?"

"Yeah, just bit stiff and I don't want to get worse," Harry admitted sheepishly. "Where am I staying?"

"Here, at Hogwarts. School starts soon and we need a central location where everyone can report in to meet you without bothering anyone. We can issue a press statement about our bond to keep idiots from going after you on top of that," Riddle said gently. "We aren't evil but I was _very_ insane so its best to sort this out before the years starts up again. We'll have to punish some of them or have them committed to either St. Mungoes or Azkaban but it will keep more people from getting hurt because of something stupid while we fix the mess Dumbledore left. We'll get you new clothes and your school supplies once you can get around better until then you need to focus on resting and healing."

"Okay," Harry agreed as the conversation quickly turned to lighter things.


	5. Crown or Curse

Harry got exactly one day of rest before people started to show up wanting to talk to him and Riddle. Madam Bones practically stalked into the infirmary behind Riddle around lunch time that Saturday Aug, 14. The scene reminded Harry of an irritable lioness hunting something that had tricked her into some sort of undignified action and made him want to giggle.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked politely.

"Mr. Potter are you aware of your Lordships and how many seats on the Wizengamot you have with or without any you just gained by effectively capturing all of the Death Eater seats?" Madam Bones asked in an odd mix of irritability and pained pride.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked with a frown.

"This must be what Death meant when he said Harry hasn't been taught anything. I can give you the numbers from what he got by taking charge of me and mine but I don't know what he has otherwise," Riddle offered with a jolt of pained realization. "I know he should have the Potter seats but anything else we would have to check with Gringotts for an accurate accounting. I will have to arrange for him to receive Heir training, he needs to know what responsibilities he has as a part of our world."

"As you may or may not know when a proxy is arrested the Wizengamot seats they were managing default to the owner's control or a locked state if the Lord or Lady is unable to take them up until they are reassigned. When we convened to choose a temporary Minister and Cheif Warlock we found that the majority of seats had gone into this default state. When it was investigated we discovered that Mr. Potter owns most of those seats regardless of the fact he has yet to take up his Lordship. Dumbledore was sitting as proxy for a portion of them but obviously wasn't aware of all the seats Potter actually held even before his taking charge of your group," Madam Bones informed them huffily. "We literally can not vote on such an important decision until Potter is present or unless he grants proxy to someone. The fact that he wasn't even aware of his own Lordship is.. is... _appalling_. Our government is essentially at the whim of Potter because of Dumbledore's meddling and Death's declaration as to your disposition!"

"What does all of that actually mean?" Harry asked with obvious dread.

"It means that certain even older laws go into effect, laws that nearly everyone has done their absolute best to keep dormant. Congratulations trouble magnet you've effectively become King of magical britian by default," Riddle translated, fighting the urge to facepalm at Harry's mixed bag of shear luck.

Harry sat there for a moment, simply processing what he'd been told before going off on a cursing streak that almost literally turned the air blue.

"Mr. Potter, you have a choice. Take up your Lordship waiting at Gringotts or let the ministry collapse. If you take up your Lordship you have the choice to assign one or more proxies to govern your seats for you, vote them all yourself, or find a way to abdicate them so that they go to the next person or persons in the line of ascension. Frankly, as unsettling as the situation is we'd rather you not invoke the older choices that I haven't listed," Madam Bones told him.

Riddle gave a harsh bark of laughter before explaining to a confused Harry. "The old laws have already been invoked simply by the situation but you can effectively ignore them by using one of the choices Madam Bones gave you. There is a cost to that, a cost for not even trying to accept and work with the situation as effectively declared by magic. You see for this to happen a lot of seats that have been dormant for 100 years or more would have had to suddenly go active. Most seats are bound to the blood of a family but magic can decide that the blood line has been dead long enough before arbitrarily switching the allegiance of the seat to a squib branch or someone without any blood relation. There are even various reasons or conditions that would magically switch the seat to someone else even if the person and family are still alive. What Death did can count that as part of our situation but we're still trying to figure out everything that happened so I'm not sure if you gained control and ownership of the seats or just control of the owners of the seats."

"So we don't know if the seats should have gone to their heirs or if they will go to my children. We also don't know how many I have control of right now except for the fact that I have enough of them to put me in charge of everyone," Harry concluded glumly. "I haven't even taken my OWLs yet!"

"We understand but the decision has to be made quickly or Magic herself will make the choice and no one will be able to counter it," Madam Bones admitted grimly.

Before anyone else could say a word Hogwarts shifted, sending Riddle into a chair that morphed out of the stone of the floor at the side of Harry's bed. From out of the ceiling dropped several items: Ravenclaw's cleansed Diadem, a tarnished silver baby rattle, a full pensive, a ring with an unfamiliar crest, and a small chest. Between Harry and Riddle the Sword of Gryffindor silently emerged from the stone floor to stand as if mirroring how Arthur had discovered Excalibur.

"Do I want to know?" Harry asked softly, staring at the objects that the school had provided.

"I'm not sure," Riddle admitted with a hard swallow.

Snape had been lurking in the nearby shadows the entire time and chose that moment to remind them of his presence.

"I would rather not put the fate of the entire Wizarding World in Potter's hands but it is clear to me what decision _Hogwarts_ wants the brat to make," Severus pointed out caustically. "My question is _why_? Why put Potter in charge and Riddle to act as both regent and co-parent for Potter's brats?"

As Snape spoke he was completely oblivious to the slender vine of metal from the bed behind him that reared up and sent him stumbling to kneel next to Potter's bed. Half sprawled atop it Severus growled as the bed sheets magically rolled back his left sleeve leaving the new tattoo exposed and pointedly tapped on the single difference his changed mark had compared to anyone else. The surly man's mark had a stylized shield with a central lightning bolt within a diamond floating above the spread cloak-snake-wand-ring design.

"Severus... did you make some sort of magical oath or vow in regards to protecting the brat? Something separate from your loyalty oath to me?" Riddle asked with a surprised blink. Snape muttered something under his breath until he got a poke from the animated sheets and giving a reticent nod in answer.

"I will ensure that Master Snape is granted the appropriate body-shield license when I get back to the ministry," Madam Bones said with a heavy sigh.

"Oh good. I had wondered when Hecate would start noticing I was claiming one of her champions," Death said with an evil cackle from the shadows under Harry's bed. "I don't think she's noticed I've stolen more than just Potter... yet. Her reaction to being out-flanked is going to be _priceless_!"

The sound of laughter faded away as the sense of Death's presence dissolved into nothingness.


	6. Swords and Shields

"Er, do you think you could stand up now Professor?" Harry asked in complete embarrassment. The fact that the man was still half sprawled onto the bed wasn't as _interesting_ as the fact that he was also practically in the young Gryffindor's lap.

"If you can de-animate the bedding I will be happy to return to my feet. I'm not exactly comfortable as is," Severus drawled sarcastically motioning towards the overly energetic sheets that kept him in place and his mark on display.

"I'm not certain we should even try until we've properly sorted out why we've been placed as we have and what each of the items are present for. Hogwarts is _old_ magic and we really don't want to get it wrong," Riddle pointed out with a shudder at the thought of what could go wrong if they screwed up.

"Yes, I need to know what's happening before I go back. Dumbledore is still spouting rubbish about a prophecy, Potter going dark, and you needing to be stopped as the ultimate evil or some such," Madam Bones said with a shudder at the nightmare waiting for her back at the office. "Then there's that Umbridge woman making trouble, protesting Fudge's arrest. The Ministry worker who was arrested for sending in the Dementors claimed it was done on her orders but there's no proof or at least none I can charge her with. She's also supposed to take up the position of Defense Professor as per the ultimatum that Fudge gave to Dumbledore. I don't know if Mr. Riddle has found _that_ particular set of paperwork or not. Technically, he's supposed to be able to have until just before the school year begins to find someone qualified. Unfortunately, when I looked at this new ruling the fine print has a clause which allows rejection of anyone not a sworn in Ministry employee. We can't put someone else in the Defense position until we have _proof_ that Umbridge is unsuitable or otherwise a danger in that position."

"Lovely," Severus said sarcastically followed by a heavy sigh of resignation. He really didn't want to be stuck but suspected that even if he managed to get back on his feet he was going to have to stay nearby. As such he rearranged his legs so that he was properly kneeling rather than sprawled half on and half off of Harry's bed.

"That may cause problems. If she attacks Harry I will be forced to defend him. Severus will likely have a similar reaction. I'm not sure how we'll handle his potions grades now that we are more aware of certain parts of the situation," Riddle said uncertainly.

"I hold a defense mastery in addition to my potions mastery. If need be I can take over defense during the weekend or set up a school wide study program or some such. I already have similar programs set up within Slytherin house so the framework already exists," Severus informed them grumpily. It was obvious that his grumpiness was more due to his being stuck to the bed and kneeling next to it than anything to do with his suggestion.

At his words the objects sitting on the bed rearranged themselves so that the pensive, which was now glowing lightly, was literally sitting in Harry's lap.

"Guess we have to watch whatever is in the pensive," Harry said uncomfortably.

"If I may? There is a simple spell that will let us all view the memory at the same time as a projection," Madam Bones suggested. Harry quickly nodded his agreement. She cast the spell without a second's thought. They were quickly engulfed in the world of memory.

>   
>  _Memory_
> 
> _A much younger Hogwarts surrounded the viewers so that they barely had a moment to realize they were somewhere near the modern day school library before two people who were obviously school founders walked into view._
> 
> _"I'm telling you Godric that we can't link that much raw power to the position of Headmaster. Yes, we designed this place as a fortress to face down armies but it is still primarily a place of learning, a _school_. We can't afford to let it become the main castle of some petty kingling or a magical that has designs on conquering whatever they can get their hands on," Salazar Slytherin argued with his fellow male founder._
> 
> _"Even with our layered defenses we can not stand indefinitely, nor can we fight effectively if we can not direct the defenses from a central point. I don't want to see the apprentices pressed into service to anyone any more than you do Sal. Gods forbid someone does take this castle from us and starts in on not only the apprentices but our families as well. No, I'm not arguing that there aren't downsides to a central power node but we four won't always be here. We can lock it into the mind of the castle if we have to, give a set of special requirements to take up full control of the castle and its defenses," Godric Gryffindor argued back._
> 
> _"And if we somehow acquire a king? Or our people become so imperiled that our school is one of the last strongholds or lines of defense?" Salazar demanded harshly, his eyes glittering with solid obsidian._
> 
> _"Then we include the necessary training and acknowledge the one to pass the requirements as not only Lord of the Castle but Head of all four of our lines. Yes, it will essentially create a fifth line and the Lord of Hogwarts will become the first among equals for our families but we can make sure it never activates without real reason. In accepting the position the person will have to accept or already have some sort of a bond with at least two others to act as a balance. Let the castle decide if the relationship requires anything special. Let Hogwarts herself be the final judge. I bet we can talk Rowena into devising a spell to give the prospective lad a good overview on everything. You already invented a number of helpful potions that we could use for this. For that matter I bet I could get both Helga and Rowena to create a set of memories or lessons about their subjects to add to the bundle in case knowledge was lost between then and now," Godric said eagerly, really getting into the spirit of things._
> 
> _"Is that what Ro meant with adding Excalibur to the spell work of the castle? It changed the appearance of that silly sword and engraved your on the blade," Salazar mused thoughtfully._
> 
> _"That woman is scary. The seer bit just makes it worse," Godric said with a shiver as the wandered off the edge of the memory._
> 
> _Memory Ends_  
> 

  
"EXCALIBUR!?" Everyone exclaimed, looking immediately at the sword that stood innocently stuck in the stone of the floor as if it were the soft loam of a grassy hillside.

"How would the person get the memories and training," Riddle wondered thoughtfully. The castle answered by using a bit of the bedding to lift the diadem and triuphantly display it on a magical fabric pedestal, complete with ring sitting in the center of the circlet. The message was clear, put on the ring and diadem to get the knowledge and training.

"I don't like the looks of this," Harry muttered warily.

"Do you think the castle will allow someone else to take up the position?" Severus asked half sarcastically half seriously.

"Doubtful," Riddle admitted dubiously. Affronted, the animated bedding moved the diadem and ring so that they were between Riddle and Harry, in easy arms reach of either yet out of reach of anyone else.

"You spoke too soon," Madam Bones said heavily. "Of course with this evidence the baby rattle might be a warning that the position is dynastic or it may have something to do with Mr. Potter's nominal position as King of Magical Britain. No guesses on the chest."

Said chest rattled in response as if something were locked away inside it wanting to get out.

"With Dumbledore pulling the oh we have to be scared of the Dark Lord thing Riddle isn't an option," Harry concluded glumly after reassessing the situation with the new information. Before anyone could argue or stop him the diadem and ring were being slipped into place. A flash of light and Harry was passed out cold with Severus no longer pinned in place.

Over the next 48 hours they watched over him as Harry absorbed the lessons left behind by the founders for him. His body shifted and changed growing taller and bulking a bit with muscles. His hands gained calluses as if he were doing hard work in a garden or being taught the art of the sword. Shortly before Harry woke the medical scan performed by a worried Severus showed he'd aged to just past his 17th birthday, healing a good chunk of previous malnutrition in the process.

Harry muzzily rubbed at his eyes making cute sounds as he woke up from the magically enforced sleep during his training. A giant jaw cracking yawn had the people around him noticing his wakefulness. Before the young man could stumble out of his bed towards the bathroom they were scanning him again, documenting the changes and looking for anything that might hurt him.

"I need tea," Harry muttered mutinously. "Too bad I haven't put together Helga's special wake up tea yet."

"I will want the recipe before you go drinking it," Severus pointed out gruffly.

"Yeah, Sal said you probably would. They merged with Hogwarts when they died and aren't happy about how the apprentices... sorry, students have been denied certain magics or treated," Harry grumbled, wincing at the flash of light off of the white of the Hospital Wing.

"I ought to tie you down and make you scrub cauldrons for a month for pulling such a stunt," Severus said in a clearly pissed off voice.

"Don't, Rowena already scolded me and Godric had me doing sword and spear drills for _hours_ as punishment. They weren't happy that I didn't understand my obligations to you and anyone else under me as a Lord, much less a King," Harry shot back.

"Can you pass the OWLs and NEWTs?" Riddle asked with interest.

"Probably but I'll be missing a lot of the more modern spellwork so even though I'm 17 I should probably keep going to class with my friends," Harry conceded.

"Potions?" Severus asked in a mix of dread and excitement.

"I'm up to date on method and experimentation, so maybe 6th year? You'll probably have to test me. Sal wasn't happy that I didn't have the basic instruction. He figured that either I was supposed to be taught and you were tricked about my training or you never bothered to check or were forbidden or a combination," Harry informed them.

"Combination," Severus said looking away in embarrassment.

"Madam Bones left after you accepted the ring and diadem to inform everyone that you're the new king as declared by ancient magics," Riddle informed him with a snicker, earning him a pillow to the face.

"You felt the bond shift didn't you?" Harry asked somewhat sourly.

"Yes," Riddle agreed with a smirk. "I believe the old goat might still be fighting to have you put under some sort of control, imprisonment, or killed. Umbridge has been confirmed as the Defense Professor and Severus agreed to run a weekend _supplemental_ defense class in case she really is going to be a problem. I have no objection to you being assigned as his Teacher's Aid for both classes to help since you only need some updating after that intense study session. No one can claim that you aren't good in Defense and placing you as Potions TA can be explained away with you needing potions for this latest magical mishap."

"That works," Harry agreed thoughtfully. "I'm not sure I could handle the dorm though so can we do something about that? Or do I have to find someway to move in with the 7th years?"

"We could use the _treatment_ excuse again and place you in guest quarters or have you share with myself or our new Headmaster," Severus suggested.

"Do you know what the other objects are for?" Riddle asked quietly.

"The baby rattle is a symbol of the dynastic aspect of my new position but its also loaded down with protective magics for whenever my child is born. The chest has journals, letters, and a few special eggs inside for us to pick from so that we three will each have a familiar that is powerful enough to protect us once it hatches and bonds to us. I am to wear and use Excalibur as a part of my place as King," Harry admitted with a blush for what was needed to make the baby in the first place.

"Classes start soon. Once you've eaten I will expect you in my office so that we can work out the lesson plans for the year. We will assume for the moment that Umbridge will be useless and adjust from there," Severus instructed.

"Yes Professor," Harry agreed wryly before digging into the food he'd just been handed by a discretely summoned house elf.


End file.
